A Slayers Tale
by xxx Queen Of Slayers xxx
Summary: Artemis Bellatrato was a Slayer in love with a vampire. Her Watchers only aim was to destroy the darkness that ruined his life. This is her story. COMPLETE


**_A Slayers Tale_**

**_Disclaimer: - The whole story, names, places, and ideas are all mine _**© **_, the only thing that doesn't belong to me is the Slayers/Watchers/demons idea, which is the original works of Joss Whedon._**

**_I hope you like it, but I wouldn't blame you if you don't, and all reviews accepted, including constructive criticism._**

_Thanks to my lovely muse, Medusa Sparrow-Descouedres for everything!_

Artemis stood next to the burning pyre, feeling its intense heat. She had pleaded Chryse to let her come to Tomi's funeral, and he had agreed.

She felt hollow, as if she had lost a part of herself – forever. And it was true.

He was her soulmate.

Everyone came up to her and offered her their respects, then disappeared into the forest. The clearing was empty – apart from a man.

He was dressed in a long white tunic, and had clean handsome features with his fair hair and pale blue eyes. Artemis didn't know who he was. She had never seen him before in her entire life.

He came up to her, his penetrating gaze burning into her. "Are you Artemis Bellatrato?" He asked.

She narrowed her eyes, wondering how he knew her name, and was just about to ask him that, but just then two things happened: She felt a rush of energy, a vision coming to her of a dark-haired woman, blood trickling down her throat, eyes closed. Those eyes would never open again.

Artemis knew, somehow, that she was connected to this young girl.

The other thing was that just at that moment, a man dressed in rags lumbered into the clearing. His hair was matted, and his hands were stained with blood, as was his mouth.

Instinctively, Artemis ripped off a branch from the nearest tree feeling a sharp pain in her thumb and ignoring it, and then with a speed she didn't know she possessed, lunged at the man, driving the branch in cleanly between his ribs. He exploded into dust.

Artemis gasped, and dropped the branch. She looked at her thumb where it had been wounded, but the cut was already healing.

Suddenly, she detected footsteps behind her with a hearing that had increased so that it could even detect a bat's squeak hundreds of miles away, and whirled around to see the man with the fair hair who had unnerved her.

"Well done, Slayer." His mouth quirked into a smile.

"One: I do not know who you are, and two: What is a _Slayer_? Explain yourself." She glared at him.

He chuckled. "You are still a young child, merely a woman of 16 years. But I shall humor you. My name is Damascus Crylia, and I am from Minas Geras. I am a Watcher of the Watchers council. And you, the Slayer, are my assignment. A Slayer is born into every generation, called to fight the forces of darkness, and drive them back again and again. Her Watcher is the man who trains her, and educates her in the way of the Slayers. In this generation, you have been called. The last Slayer was in Italy, called Lucretia Maniono. She was killed in an attack by the demons. Now you have inherited her title."

"So that – that _thing_ was a…" She trailed off.

He nodded. "A vampire. Beings of darkness who cannot face the light of our sun and must drink blood to survive. They have all previously been humans apart from Marmee Noir."

Artemis tilted her heads to one side, and looked at him quizzically. "Who is Marmee Noir?"

"The mother of all darkness." Damascus replied.

Artemis shivered as if, even now, wherever Marmee Noir was, she was hidden in the darkness waiting for them.

Artemis looked up at the moon, its pale beauty shining down on her.

_**I must accept my duty as the Slayer.**_

So it began. Training wit Damascus, finding out as much as she could about the Slayers, Watchers, and demons. Embracing her legacy. All done in the comfort of his home. She had moved in with him, but he wasn't the least bit interested in her other than she was the Slayer. She had no family, only living with a nice couple in a small villa, and had been sad to leave them. But she had to leave.

One night, Artemis was patrolling amongst the funeral place where the vampires would venture, when she caught sight of a flash of black from amongst the trees, and someone came up behind her.

"Artemis." it was Tomi. _Her_ Tomi.

"Tomi!" Artemis gasped, eyes wide. She stared at him, amazed. "I thought you were dead!"

He shook his head, smiling. "No. It was another they thought dead in place of me."

She ran towards him, hugging him as if she would never let go. She finally pulled back to look at him. "But… _how_?" She asked.

His face darkened, and he shook his head. "No."

She insisted, wanting to know the truth. "Please."

"I – I am a vampire. Though I still have my soul, somehow." He flinched, not meeting her gaze as if waiting for her to reject him for being a vampire, but she smiled sadly and hugged him. "I love you."

It had been going on for several nights now. When Damascus was not with her when she went to the other villages to help them, Tomi came along in secret. It had been a full moon since she has first seen him back from the dead. He had told her that her Watcher was dangerous and would destroy the darkness that he hated if he could, no matter the innocent lives lost.

Artemis had realised it when she had studied with him and agreed. His wife and children had been dragged into the 7th dimension by demons, and his parents, along with his siblings, had either been killed or turned by vampires. His hatred and rage was consuming him inside, which was why she had kept Tomi a secret. Otherwise Damascus would have killed him.

Artemis was walking with her pack slung over her shoulder, on her way to Creet. It was night, and Tomi was walking next to her. He had a look of pain in his eyes, and Artemis recognised that look. They wanted to be together, but it wasn't allowed. He might be a vampire with a soul, but he was still a vampire, and she was a Slayer. They could never be together, but could at least love and comfort each other in their time of need.

Artemis leaned up and kissed him softly, wanting to take the pain away. He smiled, and for a moment it seemed as though he were truly happy, but then it vanished and the a veil passed over his eyes as they walked softly along the winding path. Alone.

By the next night, they had reached Creet and took refuge in an abandoned hut. There was a pool by the house, and as they passed by it, Artemis saw her reflection in the water, along with Tomi's. She saw the image of a girl with long fair hair and green eyes framed in an angular face and full mouth. Bards had sung of her beauty.

Next to the girl in the rippling water was a boy, who looked no more than 19 years of age, with unruly black hair and soulful silvery-gold eyes.

Artemis looked at Tomi, and saw the intense expression on his face. He was dressed in a dark colors, and now not even a smile passed his mouth.

He noticed her looking at him. "Is there something wrong?" He asked with worry.

She shook her head. "Nothing."

He looked at her; eyes narrowed, and then directed his attention back to the hut, the peeling walls and the empty fireplace.

"Tomi." She came up behind him and touched him lightly on his shoulder.

He turned around and looked at her, face full of concern.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yes, I am. But please, just… be with me tonight. No demons, no vampires."

He leaned down and hugged her. "As you wish."

Dawn came early. Artemis woke up and looked at the sleeping form of Tomi besides her. She smiled softly, thinking how peaceful he looked. She was lucky to have someone who was so special. Everyone deserved someone who was special.

She sat up, thinking. They had been in Creet for several days now. The villagers were happy to see them, as they could get rid of the demons that constantly plagued the village. And they had done a good job so far.

Suddenly, the door opened into the little hut, and Damascus was standing there.

Artemis's cheeks paled, and her eyes widened, her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Tomi had woken up and noticed. Damascus had been smiling, but the smile slipped and without a word he turned and walked away.

Artemis found him later near a fountain depicting the image of Artemis, the chaste goddess of the hunt, her namesake. He was sitting at the fountains edge, his face icy.

"He was a vampire." His tone was chilly, his eyes clouded over.

Artemis shook her head. "No. No! He has a soul, Damascus! He isn't like the other fiends. Don't harm him – please. I love him." Artemis's eyes were swimming.

"How can you love a demon?! Have you already forgotten what they did to my family?" He thundered, his rage broken to the surface.

She shook here head, a teardrop sliding down her cheek. _**No**_.

His anger was there, so dark, and then the next second his face smoothed. "I am sorry, Artemis. Forgive me. I may have spoken a little too… rashly. I wouldn't hurt you. If I could meet him, then I will tell you what I think, but I will do nothing." He smiled at her charmingly. "_I promise_."

That night, Artemis told Tomi what Damascus had said.

"There is an urgent appeal in Lomos which requires my help, and he had come all this way on foot to inform me. Will you not come to meet him?" She asked.

Tomi nodded. "For my lady, I will do anything." He said, giving her a devilishly handsome grin.

She laughed, smiling up at him.

Neither noticed the Watcher at the door, a look of cruelty on his face.

Artemis tried to look for Damascus everywhere, and brought Tomi along. She finally found him in the local brandy house. The maids bustled about busily and the people were sitting around on tables, drinking and laughing loudly.

"Damascus, I have brought Tomi to meet you." She introduced them to each other, and watched them talk, apparently enjoying themselves. When the night had ended, Damascus invited them to dinner the next night in Lomos. They agreed.

Artemis thought that Damascus had changed and maybe even liked Tomi.

When Artemis went to Damascus's villa, she opened the door and walked into the room. Her heart ceased.

Tomi was chained to the wall, suspended in a pulsing blue ball of energy, a stake through his heart.

Artemis thought she might die.

She turned around, tears trailing down her cheeks, and saw Damascus, who was smiling cruelly.

"My present to you, _huntress_." He smiled, a gleam in his eye.

Artemis's rage and pain broke free. She lunged at the man who had killed her hearts love, the man who was supposed to protect her, the man she didn't know, intending to kill him.

They fought for what seemed to Artemis like years, and she finally pinned him to the wall, running the sword through him, watching the blood splatter the walls.

She looked at him hanging on the wall, his blood turning cold, and then walked over to Tomi, laying her palms flat against the ball that was slowly beginning to dissolve since its maker was dead.

"I love you." Tears pooled in her eyes sliding down her cheeks, tasting like bitter salt.

"I love you too." He whispered, a look of pain on his face, and then the poison took effect and he exploded into dust.

Artemis knelt on the floor, clutching the dust in her closed fist, and then let it sift through her fingers, watching it blow into away into the breeze.

She put a hand to her heart where blood wad seeping through, and fell to the darkness forever.

The Slayer and the vampire she loved could finally be together in death, as they couldn't in life.


End file.
